In the December Issue:
Work keeps piling up, your kids’ extra school activities are running late, no one’s homework has been started and dinner hasn’t gelled as an idea, let alone materialized in the pan.
By the end of the day, you’ve become stressed out and overstretched. Even when you are otherwise winning, you start to feel like a failure.
Don’t let your dinner demons settle in and get comfortable. Help is on the way (and it’s not take-out!).
Meal Planning To The Rescue!
Not convinced? Perhaps you believe you need to give up your Sundays in order to meal plan. Maybe you want to take things off your plate, not add to it. Or maybe you’re just thinking, “How the heck do I know what everyone wants to eat on Wednesday - I don’t even know what to make for dinner tonight?”
Sound familiar?
Done right, meal planning can be easily tackled any day of the week, doesn’t take long, and can actually save you time, stress and money. You just need to know the secrets.
This article is the second in a series on Dinnertime Sanity Saving Secrets.
1. Start With a Master Recipe List
Let's be honest, we're all tired. Some of us can become burned out on an idea at even the smallest hint of extra effort. Work is difficult and exhausting. Add adult responsibilities on top of that, and it's no wonder you're looking for minimal work. That’s when meal planning usually gets put on the back burner. To ensure that your meal planning is successful, you need to make it as simple and easy as possible. You’ll need to start by storing your recipes in an accessible place. More than that, they need to stay organized.
Create a master recipe folder on your phone, computer or in an old fashioned notebook. Gather recipes from websites, social media sites, cookbooks, magazines, friends and family. Divide the recipes by main ingredient, by season, ethnicity, food group and/or themes (think stews, casseroles and soups or meats, poultry, veggies, Taco Tuesdays and Meatless Mondays) or you can make your own categories.
Start with what you know, so you don’t feel overwhelmed. Find 5 or 6 recipes you want to make for the week and go with that. You can add to the repertoire little by little. If you typically eat out most nights, maybe start with planning just three dinners this week, and increase your menu planning from there.
Having a master recipe folder will help you narrow down your focus, and provide readily available ideas for your meal plans, that are specifically tailored to you and your family.
2. Know Your Schedule
Late night business meetings? Early evening football games? Oh dear, not another nighttime school concert!
You and your family’s schedule is a fundamental ingredient of meal planning. You need to make sure that you are not only planning for a set amount of days, but you are also ensuring you have the time to make your intended recipes.
Don’t plan elaborate, complex or time-consuming meals on days you know you will be running late or scooting out the door again once you get home. These nights are perfect for leftovers, re-purposed dinners (turn that leftover roast chicken into chicken fajitas 1-2-3!), quick pastas or defrosted homemade soups and stews.
3. Meal Planning Basics
When you are working on your meal planning, you want each meal to have a good balance of nutrients. This means including enough carbohydrates, proteins, and healthy fats. Depending on the diet you follow or dietary restrictions, it might include fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean protein, dairy, and many other options. It is good to aim for a colorful plate, as that ensures you are getting a wide range of vitamins and minerals.
Start your meal plan with some favorites you know your family enjoys. You already know the ingredients and cooking process, so this is going to make it easy. It also ensures you have at least a few meals that you don’t have to think too much about.
As you fill in your plan, think about what part of the meal you can make in bulk so you can re-use or re-purpose it another night of the week. No one says you have to cook from scratch every night. Also think about time-saving recipes that use certain cooking methods such as sheet pan cooking, one pot cooking, or recipes that use time-saving appliances such as slow cookers, pressure cookers and air fryers.
Meal planning is easier and more cost effective, when you can work from what you already have, whether that is herbs or seasonings, meat in the freezer, or milk and butter in the fridge. It’s time to know what you have, know what you need, and how to use it!
These basic principles of meal planning can help you get started. Remember, there is no set defined way of meal planning.
The idea is to work with the diet you want, plan the meals, and make sure they work for you and your family’s lifestyle. It may take a little time to get things on a solid track, but once they are, you will find meal planning to be an easier route on many levels.
Of course, this is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. We all know it takes more than a weekly meal plan to get weeknight dinners on the table with speed and ease. That said, being armed with a weekly meal plan is a step towards regaining your dinnertime sanity. Stay tuned for more of the secret in the series…
Linda’s cooking skills were so bad, her own family banned her from cooking when she was a teen. Happily, her skills have dramatically improved. She now has over 1000 cookbooks, is a graduate of Rouxbe Cooking School and the Institute of Integrative Nutrition, and has countless cooking courses from the International Culinary Center and Natural Gourmet Institute under her belt.
As owner of Balaboosta’s Secret, she helps entrepreneurial moms with meal planning, prep, and cooking lessons, as well as coaches them on how to serve dinners with side dishes of games and clever conversations. Whether you’re a novice cook, or looking to add some oomph to your dinner routine, Linda’s all about making ordinary weeknight meals extraordinary with speed, ease, yum and lots of fun. Hook up with her for some 1:1 or group virtual coaching. Your inner dinner demons will thank you.
Find Linda HERE!
